I'm not one to typically do this, but I feel the need to get things off my chest and inform others about my purchase with Longtran.

Sept. 20- Longtran seemed to have quite a good reputation on this site, so I bought a painted oem front lip spoiler and paid in full via paypal. I provided all of the necessary shipping information, e90post screen name, email address, etc. per his request.

A couple of days go by and I checked with him to see what the status of the order was. He seemed to have no idea who I was and that I even made an order. No biggie...he probably has lots of requests. He asked me to send him and email to his yahoo account with full order information. So, I go and take the same information that I provide him with on paypal and send it to his yahoo account. Slightly redundant, but it's ok. In the email, I explicitily told him to ship it to my NJ address.

Sept. 21- I email Longtran and ask him when I can expect the lip and asked that he provide tracking/shipping info. He replies that he's shipping it out first thing next week...4 day ground. He did not provide shipping info. Cool, it should be here soon. NOT!

Sept 28- still no front lip. I email him for a status update and asked for shipping/tracking info. He tells me "it's going out today." Again, he provides no tracking info. Cool, it should be here soon. NOT!

Oct 4- still no front lip. I email him asking for a status update and ask for shipping/tracking info. He responds by saying he "messed up and forgot" and will overnight it tomorrow. He tells me not to worry (citing his good reputation on this site) and I say "cool, no problem." Again, no shipping/tracking info provided. In the email, I again remind him to send it to my NJ address. Cool, it should be here soon. NOT!

Oct 11- still no front lip. I email him and finally show some irritation with him. I ask for shipping/tracking information. At this point, I'm pretty pissed with his lack of urgency and broken promises. He apologizes and says there is "no excuse for what he's done." He promises, again, to ship the lip tomorrow.

Oct 11- I receive a shipping confirmation from Paypal and US Postal Service. Yes, my lip will finally be here tomorrow, right? NOT! Longtran shipped the product to the WRONG ADDRESS (central PA address), after I specifically asked him not to do this on 2 separate occasions in the same email thread that we've been corresponding in the whole time! I've been trying to get the package re-routed the address and have been on the phone with US postal service customer service for an hour. The package is too "new" and they can't find it in the system right now, and I'll have to call back later (which by the way is tomorrow bc they're day is over at 4:30 p.m. EST). Who knows when I'll get the package now.

I'm very disappointed with the whole ordeal. I'll probably get flamed by people here bc I'm a noob, but I have to say that doing business with Longtran has been quite a headache. I'm sure he does good work and is a super nice guy, but his organization skills, attention to detail, and business execution are absoulutely pitiful.

The point- just be careful who you deal with on here...most of the time you'll hand them money thinking they'll take care of you the way you'd take care of them, but the fact of the matter is they probably don't care all that much. You spend more time and energy managing the process than they do and YOU'RE the customer!

CatOrtega3881, I am sorry to read about your unfortunate experience. I hope it gets resolved soon. However, your experience is not unlike mine with any "small internet business/personal transaction". I've had to babysit almost every single such transaction with constant communication and update requests.

Especially one must consider that usually only large online retailers have automated software to regulate orders and expedite shipping processes, it becomes difficult esp. as longtran is the go-to guy to virtually everyone in socal and it seems outside socal as well .

I've only dealt with longtran locally, and I have been thoroughly satisfied with my experiences.

I suggest you find someone locally too. There is little that can go wrong then. I am never worried cause I'm like 20-30 minutes away. Sometimes the peace of mind is worth it over worrying 24/7 after you click the "send" button on paypal.

I suggest you find someone locally too. There is little that can go wrong then. I am never worried cause I'm like 20-30 minutes away. Sometimes the peace of mind is worth it over worrying 24/7 after you click the "send" button on paypal.

Couldn't agree more. I wish I was close to where Long lives so I could ogle at all the marvelous things E90...

Just want everyone to know that Longtran called me on my cell phone to let me know he's trying to correct the situation. He said he contacted the post office to change the shipping address and right the situation.

He was very apologetic. I appreciate him owning up to his mistake, and I'm glad he took the time to reach out to me over the phone. His heart is in the right place, he just needs the proper systems in place to keep things like this from falling through the cracks with growing demand for his services.

He's not off the hook yet, though...I still gotta get the stuff in my hands by tomorrow or Saturday, but it looks like things will finally work out.

Just want everyone to know that Longtran called me on my cell phone to let me know he's trying to correct the situation. He said he contacted the post office to change the shipping address and right the situation.

He was very apologetic. I appreciate him owning up to his mistake, and I'm glad he took the time to reach out to me over the phone. His heart is in the right place, he just needs the proper systems in place to keep things like this from falling through the cracks with growing demand for his services.

He's not off the hook yet, though...I still gotta get the stuff in my hands by tomorrow or Saturday, but it looks like things will finally work out.

I won't thank you yet, Longtran, but I will once the lip shows up.

We all know... bad things SHOULDN'T happen, but they do. In your case, it just happened to be where several things went wrong that shouldn't have at one time.

I was with Long all afternoon today...I was with him when he dropped off the lip early at the post office, to ensure it didn't miss the express mail cut-off time. I was there when he got your email stating the address wasn't correct...
I was there when we rushed back to the post office to try and intercept the package before it got loaded on to a truck...
I was there when he called the regional hub post office to intercept it there, as it had already left the local office...

I will tell you this...I know you are unhappy, as you should be with the things that have gone wrong. I've always believed that at any given day and any given time, something can go wrong. But when things do, whether it's human error, or things out of control, how it is handled and rectified shows a lot of character.

Not once did Longtran complain about the customer all day. He admitted to me repeatedly that he dropped the ball on this one and was seriously full of remorse for (somehow) screwing up this order. Shipped late, wrong address to top the list of other things that could go wrong.

Long is genuinely a good guy, that really does care about the people he serves. I am sorry this happened to you and i do hope the address gets changed in time and gets to you tomorrow.